Then-and-now photos of London’s “Visible Girls” show the tenacity of female friendship
The reemergence of Anita Corbin’s bathroom portraits
London in the early ’80s was a hotbed of subcultures. New music spurred new fashion, new adornment, and nurtured identity politics. Punk, ska, mod, new wave, disco, reggae, and 2 Tone had changed, or were changing, the energy on the streets and the look of youth. In 1981, 22-year-old photographer Anita Corbin set out across the English capital to capture young women from different cultural groups.
“I chose to focus on girls, not because the boys were any less stylish, but because girls in subcultures have been largely ignored or when referred to, only as male appendages,” says Corbin. “As part of any subculture in the 1980s, your lines were defined, and this gave some security.”
Corbin’s subjects were as varied as the moment was fluid. They were New Romantics, skins, rockabillies, Rastas, and young lesbians. They were friends, sisters, and lovers. Some didn’t identify with a subculture at all, and others were fleetingly associated with one before drifting into another.
“I was a punk originally, but I couldn’t go the whole hog, because I was also into disco,” subject Gill Soper told The Guardian recently. “If you turned up at a disco with a blue mohican, you wouldn’t be so welcome!”
Corbin used an Olympus OM2, slow color film, and a portable flash. Budgeting herself to two rolls of film (72 frames) per night, she took photos in the girls’ go-to hangouts: pubs, youth clubs, friends’ homes, social centers, and Soho nightclubs. A handful of portraits were made on the street or in tube stations, and while more than a few were staged in the ladies’ toilet. The series Visible Girls is comprised of twenty-eight double portraits, each one conveying the newfound pride, rage, and joy that young women were increasingly embodying.
Corbin also conducted impromptu interviews asking the girls about appearances, group dynamics, music, school, work, and family. She was always fascinated by “dress as a means of communication” — how sartorial choices shaped, served, or obscured the individual, and whether it invited or alienated others.
About 10 years after creating the original portraits, Corbin wanted to revisit the women, but old phone numbers were defunct, girls had moved on or changed their names, and it was impossible to reconnect. Another two decades passed most of the original Visible Girls and Corbin could reconnect, thanks to social media.
Through institutional support from Arts Council England, Corbin was able to travel to France, Slovenia, the United States, and beyond to capture her subjects in the present. The women are now authors, yoga teachers, realtors, and casino workers. One is a psychic coach. A couple set up the first women’s center and Rape Crisis Line in Hull, a city on the northeast coast of England.
The result is Visible Girls: Revisited, a touring exhibition that shows contemporary portraits alongside those made in 1981. The new work reanimates the originals and renews a discussion about female experience in modern Britain. Visible Girls: Revisited points to the coming together across generations and, says Corbin, “allows the visibility of youth to shine a light on the often disregarded wisdom of older woman.”
Not all of the original subjects wanted to be rephotographed, but they all acknowledged the importance of Corbin’s work and its place in social history. “Their reasons were diverse: from mental health to body image issues,” says Corbin. “Some just didn’t want to be remembered of their teenage years. I respect all their choices and understand their reasons.” They were all happy, however, to have their original portraits in the touring exhibition.
Do you know any of the women yet unidentified in Visible Girls? Contact Corbin on found@visiblegirls.com to help with the search. Visit the Visible Girls website. Follow #VisibleGirls on Instagram and Twitter.
